Area listed as No. 1 on travel website’s ‘Best in the US’ list

California’s Redwood Coast topped a popular travel guide website and publisher’s “Best in the U.S.” list of destinations that people “need to see in 2018.”

Our Redwood Coast beat out second place Boise, Idaho, and third place Chattanooga, Tennessee, to nab the top spot on the list Lonely Planet published Tuesday morning.

“Lose all track of time (and cell signal) along California’s Redwood Coast,” the two-paragraph blurb on why this area was chosen reads.

The write up also mentions famous films shot with giant redwoods in the backdrop, the establishment of Redwood National Park, the budding legal cannabis industry, local businesses and monthly free admission to more than 40 redwood state parks through the Save the Redwoods League.

“It really is one of our outstanding achievements in California, that we were able to look past our own short-term economic interests and preserve the redwoods,” Lonely Planet writer Alison Bing, who researched and wrote the piece about the Redwood Coast, said about the establishment of the redwood parks to protect the giants from becoming lumber.

She said she feels a personal connection with the redwoods despite living in San Francisco because she got married in the hollow of a lightning struck redwood in Lady Bird Johnson Grove in Redwood National Park.

She said with the changing climate and changing local economy with the legalization of marijuana this year is a good time to visit the redwoods.

“It seems like a good time to be heading north and witness history in the making,” Bing said.

She said she hopes featuring the redwoods on the list and boosting park visitor numbers allows for the trees to be protected so future generations can also enjoy walking amongst them.

“We need to rally the world to see them,” Bing said.

Eureka-Humboldt Visitors Bureau executive director Tony Smithers said he was pleasantly surprised to first hear about the Redwood Coast topping Lonely Planet’s list.

“It’s been hard to keep our mouths quiet in the months we’ve known about it,” he said.

Smithers said Lonely Planet is a “travel publishing empire” that influences tourism in areas they highlight.

“It’s a very big deal,” he said.

When asked to name a few of the must-sees of Humboldt County, he included Redwoods National Parks, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Avenue of the Giants, Old Town Eureka, the Lost Coast Trail and quaint cities such as Ferndale and Trinidad.

To celebrate 100 years of saving California’s redwood forests, the Save the Redwoods League and California State Parks have teamed up to offer free day-use admission passes to the more than 40 redwood state parks throughout California on the second Saturday of each month, according to a Save the Redwoods League press release.

“People come from around the world to walk among California’s ancient redwoods,” Save the Redwoods League President and CEO Sam Hodder said in the release. “As part of our centennial celebration, Save the Redwoods League is thrilled to host a free day in the redwood parks once a month all year long. We invite you to stand under the world’s tallest living creatures — the most powerful forest in the fight against climate change — and learn why we are working so hard to protect and restore it. We are celebrating our 100th birthday in the redwood parks, and we want you to join us!”